Metered bottle closure



Dec. 25, 1951 l. M. GEARY ETAL METEREDBOTTLE CLOSURE` Filed April 30, 1946 NVENTOR.

/iA M 65.42 Yami Patented Dec. 25, 1951 2,580,292 AivnirERE-n-BOTTLE cLos-URE Ira. M. Geary and Barney J. Schwartz, I

Los Angeles, Calif.

Application April 30, 1946, Serial No. 666,077

v This invention relates to and has for a primary object the provision of a metered closure andA pouring spout for bottles and the like whereby measured quantities of a liquid may be dispensed ateach pouring operation.

IIn the consideration of this invention it will be understood that conventional spouts will dispense liquid from a bottle in variableA quantities by merely tipping the container, and thus more or less than a predetermined quantity maybe dispensed on diierent occasions, thereby resulting in a loss to the purveyors or customers at times.

It iS., therefore, an object to provide a, liquid dispenser which embodies a self-contained meter and is arranged to limit the quantity of liquid dispensedv at each operation to a predetermined quantityY and register each operation onA the meter. Thus, if an ounce of liquid is to be dispensed at each operation and the container holds one quart (32 ounces) only 32 servings can be made from such container, and discrepancies can be readily checked.

Other and more detailed objects will appear in the description of our invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which one form of our dispenser is illustrated.

In said drawings:v

Fig. l is a perspective view of a dispenser embodying our improvements and applied to a bottle.;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the dispenser applied to a bottle, the mouth of the bottle, the outlet of the dispenser and the member enclosing the lower part of the dispenser being shown in longitudinal section;V

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the dispensing device;

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are sectional plans on lines 4 4, 5 5, 6 6 and I 'I of Fig. 3, respectively;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view as seen in the direction of arrow 8 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section on line 9 9 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary external View as seen in the direction of arrow I in Fig. 9.

The device is generally indicated at A and is adapted for application to a bottle B in such a manner that it can not be removed without detection, so that the contents of the bottle may not be' unauthorizedly removed.

Dispenser A includes a cylinder I2 formed with a top wall I3 and a reduced skirt portion I4 and an enclosed chamber I5 adapted to hold one full predetermined measure of liquid derived 1 claim. (cl. 22a- 38) from bottle B. Cylinder I2 is adapted to seat in and be locked to. an annular cup-like portion I6 of an adaptor I I by means of which. the dispenser is irremovable from the neck of bottle B., except by force and consequent detection. Member I6 may have an expansible skirt I8 formed. with. an. internal iange or ring I9 adapted to4 underlie a bead or thread on the neck of bottle` B (Fig. 2). vMember I6. also has. a depending portion 2| formed with. a lling chamber 22 closed `by a bottom wall. 23, which is perforated at 24v for affording communication, at times, between bottle B and chambers I5 and 22. Wall 23 has a valve seat 25 adapted to be closed by a valve 2t,` said valve having a stem 21', which is slidable in' a central bore in wall 23 and which carries a coiled-1 spring 23 adapted to compress between said valve and wall 23 for normally urging valve 26 to open position, so as to admit liquid from the bottle to chamber I5 of -the dispenser. v v

The upper end of stem 2l carries a disc. valve adapted to seat at 3I1 on the upper side of wall` I3- of cylinder I 2. Valve 30 has a hub 32 slidabley in a bore 33 of wall I3. Fixed to the lower part r of wall I3 is an outlet member 34, which has peripheral perforations 35 for. at times, affording an outlet from chamber I5 for the liquid contents of chamber I5, aswhen valve 32 is open, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3.

Cylinder I2 is overlaid with a disc 36, which is held in position as by means of'a cap 31 aixed tov the cylinder by suitable means. Cap 3-'Ifhas an outlet 38 to which a pouring spout 39 may be connected for vdispensing the liquid contentsV o the cylinder.l

It is apparent that spring 28 normally holds valve 26 open and valve 30r closed sothat no liquid can be transferred from bott-le B to chamber I5, nor discharged from chamber I5. which is vertically slidafble on cylinder I2 (Fig. 3) and has a nger piece 1H`r on its lower endy and an arm 42 on its upper end, said arm being attached to val-ve 30- as bye means of a screw 43. Thus, when pressure is applied to the nger piece 4I, as in a dispensing operation, stem 21 together with valves 26`and' 30-will be lifted to an extent necessaryto close valve 26- and open valve 33, thereby preventing a new of liquid from bottle B whilepermitting the evacua-- tion of themeasured contents of chamber I5 of cylinder I2.

It is obvious, therefore, that in order to dispense a liquid the valve 26 must be open, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to occasion a filling of However, weprovide a valveV actuator 40,-

be no possibility of dispensing liquid which is unmetered.

Member I6 is formed of a pair of arcuate portions IBa and I6b hinged together at IBC and adapted to be locked in 41 for the purpose of 49 bar 46 which engages a pin supporting an annular dial 48 in a recess (Fig. ."3) which is adapted to rotate about the vertical axis of cylinder I2 in a step-by-step manner in response to the movement of actuator 40. As shown in Fig. 1, an aperture 50 is formed in member I through which numerals on dial 48 may be observed by an operator or others. Of course, the numerals on the dial are in sequence and are of such a number as to correspond `to the number of units capable of being dispensed from bottle B. For example, a quart bottle will hold thirty-two ounces of liquid, and if one ounce is to be dispensed at each operation the numerals on the dial will read from 1 to 32. in sequence. Chamber I5 in such case would hold exactly one ounce of liquid, and would be completely exhausted at each pouring operation.

Dial 48 is arranged to be advanced one step at each operation of actuator 40. `To such end the dial is formed with teeth 5I, which are engageable with teeth 52 of a rotatable gear or sprocket 53 which is pivotally mounted at 54 on cylinder I2 (Figs. 2 and 10). Actuator 40 car.-`

ries a pawl 55 which is pivoted thereon at 56 and is urged into operative engagement with teeth 52 of gear 53 by a spring 51, so as to advance gear 53 in a clockwise direction, as illustrated in Fig. l0, each time the actuator is operated. Gear 53 is prevented from moving backwardly by a detent pawl 58, such as is shown in Fig. 2. 01;'r

otherwise. Gear 53 and pawls 55 and58 may be mounted in a casing 60 applied to the cylinder I2, as in Fig. 1, or mounted in the wall of cylinder I2 or member I6, if desired. f ,y Each upward stroke of actuator 40 moves dial 4B one point in a given direction and at the same time opens valve 30 and closes valve 26. When chamber I5 is empty it can be readily refilled by tilting bottle B while valve 30 is closed. shown in Fig. 6, arm 42 of the actuator 40 is slightly `movable in a slot 36a in order that the actuator may accommodate itself to the curva'- ture of gear 53 during its upward stroke. Also pawl 55 is limited in its pivotal movement on axis 56 by means of a heel extension 55a, which is engageable with a stop 56h fixed in position on cylinder I2. Assuming that bottle B is full of liquid and the element A is attached thereto, it is necessary to tilt the bottle for as long a time as is required to fill chamber I5 with a full charge of liquid. Thereafter, when the bottle is again tilted and actuator 40 is operated, all of the contents of chamber l5 may be evacuated without possibility of liquid from the bottle entering chamber I5, because valve 26 will be closed until actuator 40 operative position on cylinder I2 by a key operated lock 45 and a latch is restored to normally inoperative position. as in Fig. l and valve 30 is closed while valve 26 is open, thus requiring another tilting of the bottle to rell chamber I5.

A portion 26a of valve 26 seats in the bore or seat 25 before the portion 32 of valve 30 is opened sufliciently to discharge the contents of chamber I5. Hence, in operation, each time the actuator is thrust upwardly all of the measured contents of chamber I5 may be discharged through pouring spout 38 while valve 26 remains closed, and thereafter chamber I5 may be refilled by a subsequent tilting of the bottle preparatory to a succeeding dispensing operation. The metering dispenser A is readily attached to and detached from the bottle B by locking and unlocking the hinged clamp I6.

We claim:

A liquid dispensing closure for containers comprisin-g; a body attachable to a container against unauthorized removal and formed with a dispensing chamber, a mounting having an annular band around the bottom of the body and armsA depending therefrom and hooked under an annular shoulder on the neck of a container affixed to the bottom of said body andfformed witha filling chamber depending into the container andl in constant communication with said dispensing chamber, said body having an outlet at the top of the dispensing chamber and said lling chamber having an inlet at its bottom, coaxial valves operatively connected for maintaining said inlet normally open to permit free flow of liquid fromthe container through said inlet and lling chamber to said dispensing chamber and when' the valves are actuated for closing the inlet and opening the outlet so as to dispense a complete l.

charge of liquid from the dispensing chamber, a

stem connecting said valves, a spring borne by said stem and compressed between the end wall of the filling chamber and a portion of said stern, and an actuator slidable on the mounting iny a plane paralleling the common axis of and operatively connected wth said valve stem for opening the outlet and closing the inlet in a dispensing operation, an annular indicator sur rounding said body and formed with afscale of numerals for indicating successive dispensing operations, said mounting having an :aperture through which said numerals are visible,` and means connecting said actuator with and for rotating said indicator one step in each dispensing operation.

IRA M. GEARY. BARNEY J. SCHWARTZ. REFERENCES CITED I The following references are of record in the file or this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 218,292 Lynn Aug. 5, 1879 793,154 Phillips June 27, 1905 1,256,298 Cremona Feb. 12, 1918..

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date I 27,403 Denmark Apr. 4, 1921l 461,147 Great Britain Feb. 1l, 1937 

